


The Pull of the Past

by dracusfyre



Series: Blood and Iron [9]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M, Panic Attacks, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Stephen Strange has PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-15
Updated: 2019-02-15
Packaged: 2019-10-27 16:55:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17770640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dracusfyre/pseuds/dracusfyre
Summary: This is my fill for Square T1: Misunderstandings.   Stephen has Tony come over to fix a sink and things go very sideways.





	The Pull of the Past

“This? This is what you needed help with?” Tony said in disbelief when he finally found Stephen in the bathroom, frowning down at the bathroom sink full of smelly, grey sludge water.

“Yes,” Stephen said absently, scratching his chin as if the sink were a metaphysical problem that he was trying to solve.

“The sink,” Tony said, just to make sure they were both looking at the same problem and that the grey water wasn’t from a parallel dimension and hiding some crazy creature. “You texted me and asked me to come all the way down to the Sanctum for this?”

“The clogged sink, yes.”

“Couldn’t you just…magic it?” Tony said, waving his hands at it.

“I tried that,” Stephen said with asperity. “That’s what made this happen.”

“Then you call a _plumber_ ,” Tony said, crossing his arms over his chest. “Not the richest man on the Eastern Seaboard.  Who is also Iron Man.  Do you even know how much I charge for consultations?”

“So what you’re saying is, you don’t know how to fix my sink.”

“I’m saying I’m too _important_ – oh for Christ’s sake, fine.”  Tony rolled up his sleeves and hip checked Stephen out of the way, stooping to get a look under the sink.  “Manifest me a wrench. What probably happened is that you just gummed up the works shaving that goatee every day-“

“Tony.”  There was a strange note in Stephen’s voice so Tony glanced up and saw that the color had drained from his face.

“Stephen? What is it?” He stood quickly, almost hitting his head on the counter.  “Are you okay?”

“What did he do?” Stephen was staring at Tony but not quite _at_ Tony, eyes flickering over him rapidly.  “What did he _do?_ ” He said again, more loudly.

Tony looked down at himself and then back at Stephen, whose eyes were suddenly blazing with fury in his pale face.  “What in the hell are you talking about?”

“Loki!” Stephen shouted, grabbing Tony’s shoulder and shaking him.  “What did Loki do to you?”

Tony broke his grip and backed away, almost falling into the antique claw foot tub behind him. “Stephen, you need to calm down,” he said, trying to keep his voice level.  He was starting to suspect what was going on, but this did not seem the time or place to explain Loki’s offer of immortality and Tony’s counter-offer of marriage and how both had been consummated a few nights ago on the roof of Tony’s tower, as if either were any of Stephen’s business _anyway._

“Do you not even _know?”_ Stephen raised his hands again, fingers curled and bent, and gold sparks started to drip from them.  “No. I refuse. Dormamu cannot have you.”

“ _Dormamu?_ ” Tony repeated, now completely confused.  The sparks grew thicker and Tony could feel power gathering, making the hair on his arms rise.  “Stephen, relax, let’s just take a minute-”

**“** Strange!” Loki snapped, appearing suddenly at the door of the bathroom.  “Stop or I will stop you.”

“You!” Stephen spun to face Loki. “Was this part of your plan all along?” Stephen snarled, gesturing to Tony.  “To insinuate yourself into the Order, into our Sanctuary, so that you could steal our secrets and twist them to your own purposes? Have you been lying to us, to _Tony_ , this entire time?”

Loki reared back like he had been slapped. “Have a care what you say, Strange,” Loki warned, eyes blazing and features drawn and forbidding.

“Did you think I wouldn’t recognize it?” Stephen stalked towards Loki, who refused to back away.  “I’ve seen this spell before, Loki, and I won’t let it happen again.”   His sweatpants and shirt disappeared in a flash and then he was wearing his blue tunic and wide leather belt, the time gem around his neck.  As gold enveloped Loki and was replaced with armor, Tony could feel the power building in the room as a pressure in his ears and the taste of electricity on his tongue.   The image flashed in his mind of Stephen and Loki coming to blows in the middle of New York and his blood ran cold.

“Both of you, _stop!”_ He shouted, shoving his way past Stephen to stand between them.  Loki let himself be pushed a few steps back, but his eyes were still on Stephen, jaw tight and hands curled into fists.

“Get away from him, Tony,” Stephen said in a low voice, reaching out to take Tony’s wrist. His eyes moved from Loki to refocus somewhere just in front of Tony’s face, presumably on the spell that started this in the first place.  “There’s still time to save you. I can fix this, it doesn’t have to be like last time.”

“What are you talking about?” Tony asked in frustration, but Stephen didn’t answer.  “Stephen?” he tried again, and frowned when Stephen appeared to not hear him.  “Loki, something’s wrong,” Tony said, seeing for the first time how clammy and pale Stephen was.  He reversed his hand in Stephen’s grip to put his fingers on Stephen’s wrist to find that his pulse was racing and there was a fine tremor in his hands like he was shivering. “Stephen?” he said, shaking him a little to get his attention.

This time when Stephen’s eyes focused on Tony he seemed confused.  “Tony? What are you doing here? Get out before he sees you, you can’t be here-” Stephen stopped and swayed, pressing his hands to his temple.

Steadying him with a hand on his elbow, Tony looked over his shoulder and for the first time saw Loki at a loss.  When he met Tony’s eyes, Tony could see that his fury was slowly draining away to be replaced by confusion.  “I don’t-”

“Go get Wong,” Tony ordered. “I think he’s having some sort of flashback.”  As Loki turned away, Tony glanced around him, trying to find someplace to go that wasn’t a bathroom. If he remembered correctly, not too far away was a sitting room with plenty of couches. “Stephen,” he said slowly and clearly. “Come with me.”

“I can’t, I have to finish this,” Stephen insisted, refusing to let Tony pull him away from the bathroom.  “Where is he?”

“Where is who, Stephen?”

“ _Dormamu_ ,” Stephen shouted suddenly, making Tony jump. “You bear his mark upon you, how can you not _know-”_ Then Stephen’s eyes suddenly moved to something over Tony’s shoulder. “Wong, I need-”

Wong put two fingers on Stephen’s forehead and suddenly Tony had an armful of sorcerer. As he staggered backwards under the sudden limp weight, Wong helped him lower Stephen to the floor.  “I don’t know what happened, he just…” Tony shrugged helplessly.  

Wong waved his words away, hands on his hips as he studied Stephen. He had a faint line between his eyebrows, which meant he was really worried.  Or maybe not, Tony still hadn’t gotten good at reading the man, he had a poker face for the ages.   When Wong went to grab Stephen’s shoulders, trying to pick him up, Loki stopped him and picked Stephen up instead. 

“I will care for him,” Wong said gruffly as Loki set Stephen down on a couch.  He put his fingers against Stephen’s neck to take his pulse as Stephen’s cloak appeared at the foot of the couch, somehow appearing anxious without having a face. 

“We could help,” Tony started to offer, but Wong was already shaking his head. 

“I think you should go,” he said, not unkindly.  “I believe this was triggered by seeing the spell on Stark.  He will need some time.”

Loki bowed his head in acknowledgement and turned away. Tony followed him out into the hallway, stopping him and pulling him into a hug.  For a moment Loki was stiff in his arms, but then his arms came up to circle Tony, palms flat and warm on his back.  “I want you to know I still trust you,” he said into Loki’s shoulder.  He felt the swoop of a teleportation spell and closed his eyes against the dizziness.  “And I’m not reconsidering anything, but I think maybe you need to tell me about this spell that made Stephen lose his shit.”

***

Wong kept Stephen unconscious until his pulse had calmed and his skin regained its pallor.  Then he made a pot of tea and dug up some tea biscuits, drank one full cup of tea in the blessed peace and quiet and refilled it before finally waking Stephen up.

“Wong?” Stephen said blearily. “What are you…” he looked around and sat up slowly.  “What’s going on?”

“You had a panic attack,” Wong said calmly, stirring a lump of sugar in his tea. He pressed a cup into Stephen’s hand and filled it, then handed him a biscuit.  Stephen held them for a moment as if he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to be doing, then he took a sip of tea.

“A panic attack,” he repeated, then fell silent.  He stared mostly at the teapot as he thought, absently eating the tea biscuit and drinking the tea.  “Tony was here,” he said finally. “I saw Kaecilius’s spell on him.”

“It did look like the same spell,” Wong allowed.  “But you didn’t read it correctly and overreacted.  Loki must have sensed you attempting a counterspell and came to stop you.”

Stephen blanched. “Oh, God.  Loki.  I said some horrible things to him.”

“I’m not surprised,” Wong said, reaching for another biscuit.  “You do have quite the temper.  Good luck trying to make amends.”

“Shit.” Stephen buried his face in his hands.  “What did I get wrong about the spell?” he asked after a moment, voice muffled.

“You have an eidetic memory, figure it out for yourself.”

With a frustrated sigh, Stephen closed his eyes and lay back down, trying to bring up the spell in his mind. He heard the clink of a spoon against a tea cup and the creak of the chair as Wong shifted, felt the reassuring weight of his cloak as it settled against his legs, then his eyes flew open as he realized what Wong had seen, what _he_ should have seen.  “Same spell, but different parameters,” he said. “Did Loki really…?”

“It would appear so.”

Stephen ran a hand over his face, feeling even more like an ass.  “I wonder if Tony knows.”

“I’m sure he does now,” Wong said.  “Speaking of, I don’t suppose you got him to fix the sink before all of that, did you?”

“ _Dammit.”_ He sighed again.  “I’ll call a plumber.”

***

“Why didn’t you tell me before?” Tony asked, still stunned by Loki’s revelation.

“The years are mine to give,” Loki said with a dismissive shrug.  Tony could see that Loki was trying to withdraw into himself, clearly feeling defensive.  “Why should the source of your immortality matter?”

“But we agreed way back at the beginning that there would be no non-consensual spellcasting,” Tony reminded him. He took Loki’s hand and laced their fingers together.  “And not giving me all of the pertinent information screws around with the ‘consent’ part.”

“I’m sorry,” Loki said, looking down at their matching rings.  “I was afraid you would refuse out of some misguided principles or notions of honor.” His hand tightened on Tony’s.  “The spell is easily undone, if that’s what you desire.”  His voice was level, but the strength of his grip spoke volumes.

Tony brought their hands to his lips and kissed Loki’s white knuckles.  “No, I am staying.” He kissed Loki’s palm, then pressed it to his cheek.  “But you have to stop the evasions, the half-truths and withheld information. Even if you are not being honest with everyone else, you have to be completely honest with _me_ ,” he said, holding Loki’s eyes so Loki could see how serious he was.  “I can’t share my life with someone I can’t trust.”

“I promise.” Loki pulled Tony’s hand close and brushed his lips over a faded, crooked L- shaped scar on Tony’s wrist, letting Tony feel how sincere he was.

Tony bent his head and rested his temple against Loki’s and they breathed together for a long moment.  “So, you gave half your life span to me, hmm? Until death do us part, Ultimate Edition,” Tony murmured. “You are such a romantic, Loki, I don’t know how no one else sees it.”

Loki pulled away, looking offended. “I’m not the one who hand made matching rings out of the shrapnel that almost took your life,” Loki reminded him.

“Yeah, well, there’s romantic and then there’s Romantic,” Tony said with a smile, looking at said rings.  “I did always fancy myself as a Byronic hero.”

Loki snorted and tipped Tony’s face up for a kiss. “I have business I need to attend to, but I will return shortly. Do try not to get into any more trouble while I’m gone,” he said, and vanished before Tony could protest.

 


End file.
